The Judged
by Rhino7
Summary: Oneshot. While Sora eventually talked himself into silence about how to escape, Riku resigned himself to reality. They were going to die. SK if you squint.


**The Judged**

**By Rhino7**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This snippet is mine. This is my interpretation of a series of events in the games and my own little fiction thrown in there too. So don't leave a review telling me it's stupid or dumb without a good reason. There's no need to be nasty about these things. Kind reviews are always welcome and appreciated!**

**..:--X--:..**

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Riku watched the little blobs of water fall from the crack in the ceiling and land in the small, dirty puddle on the concrete floor. How many days had passed? How long had he been in this damn, freezing dungeon cell? At least a day, maybe more, the hours seemed to slur together after a while.

He leaned his head back against the wall, watching his breath come out of his mouth and nose in a wispy fog. It was silent except for the incessant dripping. Kairi's sobbing had faded hours ago. He could still hear Sora shifting around every so often, but didn't bother noticing it. The dungeons were pitch black, silent, and cold. They had to be at least a quarter mile underground. He had hoped to see the sunlight one more time, but…

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Riku closed his eyes. He could still see everything, hear everything that had happened to bring him and his friends to this point. The Nobodies, the humanoid ones that hadn't been included in Organization XIII, had ambushed their headquarters. It had been a slaughter, at least two hundred fully armed, fully developed Nobodies against himself, Sora, Kairi, Leon, and Cloud. At first they managed to hold them off, but then they had summoned more Nobodies, and no matter how skilled his partners were, Riku's side had been overpowered.

What happened to Leon or Cloud, he didn't know. He had seen a lot of blood though, before the Nobodies knocked him out. When he had next awoken, he was shackled in this forsaken cell, Kairi in the cell on his right, crying, and Sora in the cell on his left, swearing and threatening the Nobodies until he'd screamed himself hoarse.

Sora had been the first to start devising escape plans, each one more ludicrous and unlikely as the last. Even the ones that actually made sense were useless. This castle, or wherever they were, was swarming with Nobodies of varying but considerable degrees of viciousness and strength. While Sora eventually talked himself into silence about how to escape, Riku resigned himself to reality.

They were going to die.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

**..:--X--:..**

_Riku looked to Sora and King Mickey, who were both fighting back smiles. It was over. At long last, they had finally vanquished the Heartless and the Organization._

_The three Keybearers stood in the middle of a crossroads. Endless rolling hills covered in long grass stretched in all directions. The grass had been almost covered by the Keyblades, which had been stabbed into the ground. Thousands of gleaming handles stuck up among the grass. All the other Keybearers in the galaxy had been journeying here, planting their Keyblades on this nameless world for the Final Sealing._

"_Well, I guess this is it." Sora said, beaming around at the other two._

"_What, are you in a hurry or something?" Riku asked, eying his friend with a smirk._

_Sora's cheeks flushed, "No—er—I just—didn't want—"_

"_Kairi's waiting on him." Riku answered the king's confused look._

_King Mickey allowed a short smile, "Ah, well, it won't be much longer." He looked North, from which direction the signal would be coming soon._

_Riku flexed his fingers. For almost three years they had been fighting the Heartless and the Nobodies. Now they were gone, Kingdom Hearts was sealed, and the walls surrounding the worlds were rebuilding, separating them all again._

_Things were definitely going to be better from now on._

**..:--X--:..**

I was so wrong, Riku thought, watching the ripples on the surface of the gathering puddle. A door opened somewhere close and he heard Kairi jerk in fear. He could hear multiple pairs of feet shuffling down the dark corridor and could faintly make out flickering torchlight.

His insides churned. Dusks didn't have proper eyes, so they had no need for torches. These figures coming upon them now were the more developed Nobodies with human forms. Sora was clambering to his feet in the next cell, but Riku didn't move, remaining in his position on the floor, leaning against the wall.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

"All righ', yeh ruddy dogs, on yer feet." Came a rough, growling voice of the nearest Nobody.

Riku didn't rise, but squinted through the darkness and made out the silhouettes of their captors. There were five cloaked figures standing in the dank corridor. All bore the appearance of full grown men. Two of them were each holding a torch, which looked impossibly bright after so long in the darkness.

"I said git up, yeh useless lumps of filth." The voice spat again.

Sora was grumbling incoherently, but the Nobody in charge was staring at Riku, since he'd neither cried nor swore since being brought down here. Riku looked back at him defiantly for a moment, and then took his time getting to his feet.

These Nonexistent Ones must have been having a field day, having captured two Keybearers and a Princess of Heart, the three mainly responsible for sealing Kingdom Hearts no less. He straightened, not giving them the satisfaction of seeing how much pain his leg was causing him. The injury was the result of taking on their small army with only a sword. If only he'd had his Keyblade…Well, technically he could always summon it, but in order to do that, he'd have to break the Final Seal, and he just couldn't bring himself to do that. Not after all the trouble the others went through.

Two other Nobodies stepped up to the cells on either side of Riku's, undoubtedly those holding Sora and Kairi, while the first stepped up to Riku's and began unlocking the bars. This done, he slid them aside. Riku knew he posed no threat to them: his wrists were shackled together, he was unarmed, and his leg was preventing him from moving faster than a walk. Still, this Nobody looked scared, intimidated, threatened even. Even then, Riku let himself savor that moment of superiority, of knowing that no matter how much he was outnumbered, he was still feared.

The Nobody didn't hesitate for long. He puffed himself up, crossed the cell, seized Riku by the arm, and pulled him forward. Riku stumbled at first but then regained his balance, his joints aching from lack of use over the past few days. He was half dragged and half walked out of the cell, looking on either side of him. He saw his two friends for the first time since being locked up.

Kairi was pale and her arms were visibly trembling, but her eyes were stern and she seemed to be refusing to show any signs of the terror she was feeling. Sora was red faced despite the cold of the dungeon, his blue eyes seeming to glow with fury at the Nobodies, but he was obviously as exhausted as Riku was, and likewise in no condition to fight.

Two of the Nobodies had pulled out swords. Even now they were expecting an attack? If Riku had wanted to attack, it would have been a stupid idea.

"Walk." One of the Nobodies holding a sword said softly.

"Where are you taking us?" Sora barked, his voice still raspy from shouting.

The first Nobody who'd spoken drew his arm up, smacking Sora hard across the jaw. He staggered, but stayed upright.

"Xuroan." The second Nobody said coldly.

The first Nobody, Xuroan, turned to his fellow, "Doxluc, Oxlen, guard those two."

"Calm yourself, Xuroan," The second one said, just as coldly, "We don't—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Kirux, I know." Xuroan said, looking disgruntled.

The final Nobody said nothing, but Riku could feel him watching all three of them. A momentary silence fell, in which the torches still licked at the air brightly.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

"Let's get this over with." Kirux said, turning first.

Xuroan took out his frustration by shoving Riku forward. Riku let his arms swing, heavy by the weight of the iron shackles, and started forward down the corridor.

**..:--X--:..**

_A single bolt of lightning forked across the otherwise clear, star strewn sky._

"_That's the signal." King Mickey said, and raised his right arm._

_Riku and Sora mimicked this motion. Instantaneously, three Keyblades flashed into their outstretched palms. Way the Dawn felt cool and natural in Riku's hand. It was going to be hard parting with it. As ridiculous as it sounded, he felt as though he was parting with a dear friend instead of a weapon. No, the Keyblade wasn't just a weapon._

_Sora lifted his own sword and watched it with a glazed expression, apparently lost in the same thoughts. Riku gazed around at the field of Keyblades, interrupted only by four clear cut paths, marking the crossroads in the middle of which they were standing._

_King Mickey bared his sword so that the gentle moonlight swept across the golden blade. The two boys moved so that the tips of their swords all touched. Immediately, a ripple of silvery white light enveloped the teeth of the blade all the way to the hilt, and Riku felt his fingers become warm around the handle._

_The spell had been cast. All the Keyblades in current existence had been deposited here, at these crossroads, and with these final three, would be sealed here for eternity. In turn, the realm of Kingdom Hearts would also be sealed, disabling any and all attempts at breaking down the impassable walls and unleashing the horror of the Heartless and Nobodies ever again._

"_After the Final Sealing," King Mickey said as the glow faded, "we'll have just enough time to settle things in Radiant Garden before the walls regenerate and we're sent back to our home worlds."_

_Sora exhaled and Riku clenched his jaw. It had been so long since they'd been home. If he concentrated really hard, he could almost hear the waves and feel the salty breeze. He looked down at Way to the Dawn. The blade was still shimmering from the spell, giving it an almost oily look._

"_Let's get cracking then!" Sora said, voicing Riku's thoughts._

_The king nodded and looked from Sora to Riku before looking at his own Keyblade. _

_The three of them lifted their Keyblades, still touching tips, above their heads. For a moment, the blades glowed again. Then, in unison, they all drew down their swords and drove them into the ground._

_The second the swords made contact with the soft dirt, ripples of light emanated from the teeth, shooting out and down the four lengths of the crossroads._

"_Final Sealing." All three of them said, almost in a chant._

_The light branched upward suddenly and then the stars shown again and the night returned._

_It was done._

**..:--X--:..**

Riku marched down the dark, dank, cold corridor across the hard stone floor, flanked by the two Nobodies Oxlen and Doxluc. Kirux was walking ahead of him. Xuroan and the silent Nobody walked on either side of Kairi and Sora, who followed Riku single file.

They walked in silence and when they reached a flight of stone steps, they began to ascend them without a word exchanged. It was difficult to balance on the uneven stairs by only the light of two torches, and the stairs themselves seemed to spiral on and on. The light from the torch illuminated the grime that coated the walls and threw into relief the faces of Oxlen and Doxluc, though Riku paid no attention. At this point, it didn't really matter what they looked like.

At long last, just as he was sure his legs would buckle, they reached the landing, which consisted of just a cast iron door. Kirux paused outside the door for just a split second before opening it.

Blinding white sunlight burned Riku's eyes, but he didn't dare turn his head. He blinked once and felt his eyes water madly as they tried to adjust to the sudden light. Behind him, Kairi and Sora had gasped and were blinking in pain too. As his vision returned, Riku saw that Kirux had already taken several paces and wasn't looking back to see if they were following.

"Get a move on." Xuroan shoved him hard between the shoulder blades.

Riku walked out after the first Nobody, immediately standing straight and defiant again. They had left the dungeons and were now on ground level. They seemed to have exited the building and out into some crudely constructed courtyard, and an ill-kept one at that.

There was a cracked and overgrown fountain resting in the center of the courtyard, which was roughly the size of a soccer field. There were many marble statues with missing limbs and covered in grime. The walls enclosing the space were of red brick; there were no gates to leave or enter. A makeshift aisle had been put up, starting where they were walking and leading to a raised platform. Riku kept his eyes on Kirux's back, not daring to look around.

Hundreds of Nobodies were packed into the courtyard, all staring at the three prisoners with their blank, emotionless eyes. They were shifting restlessly as the group moved towards the platform. His worst thoughts were confirmed, the Organization had been defeated, but not all of the Nobodies had been banished to Kingdom Hearts. What else had the king been wrong about?

His fingers flexed for a moment, longing to summon Way to the Dawn and battle to the death with these creatures. He could sense Sora's eagerness at this idea too, but also the same restraint. If they summoned their Keyblades now, the Final Seal would be broken, and havoc would wreak itself again upon all the systems. They couldn't let that happen.

So the three of them walked on toward the platform. Kairi gasped and Riku let his eyes waver from Kirux's back to gaze over him at the platform. He saw what she'd gasped about. The wooden platform stood about ten feet above the ground. One thick beam was supported by the sides over the platform, and suspended from the beam were three long ropes ending in the unmistakable knots of nooses.

**..:--X--:..**

_The trio of Keybearers each watched their swords for a moment, gleaming in the dirt like three articulate Excalibur swords. They were sealed permanently now, just like the others around them._

"_That's it then." King Mickey stated plainly._

"_Finally." Sora said lazily, stretching._

_Riku just eyed the blades. They were now like Excalibur. They would remain here, rooted and unmovable, until such a time came that they would be needed again. Even then, the Final Seal would keep them grounded at these crossroads until three new Keybearers with the will and the strength to remove them arrived. Only then would the Final Seal be rightly broken._

_Hopefully that time never comes, Riku thought, looking up at Sora and King Mickey and found them watching him. _

"_Ready to go?" Sora said, folding his arms behind his head._

_Riku nodded, "Yeah, let's go home."_

_King Mickey beckoned towards their Gummi, which, in two days' time, would be useless. They climbed up into it and Riku took pilot. The engine revved to life and he guided it smoothly off of the system. He couldn't help but feel as if he'd left a part of himself back there, but he pushed it from his mind and flew the Gummi away and out into open space again._

_For now, they had to go to Radiant Garden before returning home. Returning to Destiny Islands._

**..:--X--:..**

Ever since he'd awakened in the dungeon cell in chains, he'd known he was probably going to die. He didn't like it, he didn't want it, but he accepted it. Now, seeing those nooses, swaying in the dawn wind, his insides turned to ice.

He was going to die. So were Sora and Kairi. Being involved in the Keyblade War, he'd known that death was a very close entity not to be taken for granted or ignored. But he had never thought…never actually imagined…that it would happen. Even if he was killed, he had seen it as a violent, courageous death while he fought with all his might and took as many enemies down with him as he could. But this? To be marched up to the hangman's noose like cattle to the slaughter? There was no dignity, no bravery in this.

Riku bristled, but kept walking. What else could he do? There was no sense in fighting now, they were outnumbered a thousand to three, unarmed and chained. Maybe this was his punishment for all his past sins. This was his atonement for being tainted by darkness. This wasn't an encouraging prospect, and it brought to light another question.

What about the others? Sora and Kairi had done nothing wrong, nothing to deserve this. Why…why hadn't he insisted that they go home while he took care of things? If he had, maybe they wouldn't have gotten involved in this mess. Then—then what? They never would have agreed and even if they did, they would have managed to somehow come find him when he'd disappeared. He didn't deserve friends like them.

They reached the platform. Kirux stood aside and Xuroan marched them up the steps and onto the wooden structure. Oxlen and Doxluc walked across to two of the nooses. The Nobody who hadn't spoken yet walked over to the release that would open the panels on the platform, forcing the ones being hanged to…hang. As he followed Xuroan, Riku turned his head a fraction of an inch towards Kirux. At the same moment, the wind whistled more abruptly across the courtyard, forcing the Nobody's hood back. He let it fall. Riku froze midstep.

He was looking into a face that mirrored his own. Deep in his core, something stirred. He was staring at his Nobody. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. Behind him, Kairi gasped and Sora made a sort of half gasp, half snorting sound of disbelief. The Nobody looked back at him silently, those familiar azure eyes boring into his own.

Xuroan stalked back over and grabbed Riku by the hair, pulling him up the rest of the steps and shoving him forward. Riku's scalp burned, but he stood straight and looked behind him. Tears were streaming silently down Kairi's pale face, but her eyes were narrow and her lips pursed. Even now, facing certain death, she was strong and beautiful. Beside her, Sora wasn't crying, but his eyes were also narrow and his jaw was set. His face was pale but blotched by anger in a few places. Still stubborn and indignant as ever.

Riku couldn't have picked anyone else he'd rather spend his last moments with than his two closest, dearest friends.

**..:--X--:..**

_Upon reaching Radiant Garden, their group was hailed by Kairi, Queen Minnie, Leon, and, surprisingly, Cloud. _

_Kairi was bouncing on the balls of her feet as they disembarked and wasted no time in jumping on Sora and Riku, throwing her arms around their necks and pulling them down to her height as she hugged them. _

"_The queen just told me! Is it true? Do we all get to go home now?" She asked in a rush._

"_Gah! Oxygen!" Sora choked, but didn't struggle much to get free from her._

_Riku managed to detach himself from her, "It's true. The king said we were just here to settle things and then we'll go home."_

_Kairi stopped strangling Sora and looked at Riku, "Settle things? Settle what things? How long is it going to take?"_

"_Don't worry, Kairi." King Mickey assured, "Leon and Cloud are here to help make sure the regeneration goes as planned. Meanwhile, Minnie and I have some serious matters to tend to at Disney Castle. I'm sorry, fellas, but this is goodbye now."_

_They took turns saying startlingly emotional goodbyes to the king and queen before they left. Then it was just Riku, Sora, Kairi, Leon, and Cloud._

"_Are you guys staying here, then?" Kairi asked._

_Cloud made no visible response, but Leon looked at her, "Yeah."_

_He looked as though he was about to explain, but stopped, turning suddenly. Riku sensed it too, that cold sensation that felt as though you'd swallowed an ice cube. Nobodies._

"_Kairi, get behind me." Sora blurted, turning so that she was standing between him and Riku. _

_Cloud looked as though his worst thoughts had been realized, "Dammit." He hissed, and dislocated the parts of his sword, tossing two pieces to Riku and Sora to fight with, since their Keyblades had been sealed._

_The Nobodies materialized and they all knew it at once. They were impossibly outnumbered._

**..:--X--:..**

Riku was pulled back to reality as he was pushed aside to the far right noose and it was thrown over his head until it settled around his throat. Xuroan tightened it with an unnecessarily hard jerk. Sora was being maneuvered in the same fashion across the middle noose, and the same with Kairi on the far left.

This was it then. The end.

Riku still refused to openly look at the sea of Nobodies swaying eerily in restless silence as they watched, waiting. Instead, he turned and looked at the executioner, the silent Nobody. He had removed his hood and was staring straight back at Riku. As soon as he met his eyes, a sharp pain hammered against Riku's ribs, but he didn't show it.

The silent Nobody was a sickly looking, bald man with a crooked nose and malicious orange eyes. He was dressed in dark robes like the others, but Riku could see a white collar showing underneath. There was a gray goatee extending a few inches from his chin. He met Riku's eyes for a split second and a smile of pure evil curled his lips. He reached out and gripped the lever that would drop the panels.

"I guess this is goodbye…then." Sora stammered, his voice barely audible.

Kairi stifled a cry, and Riku turned as much as the rope would allow to look at them.

"It seems so." Riku said delicately.

The other two looked at him. Riku mustered his last shreds of sanity and smiled at them. Kairi tried to return it, but she was in pain. Sora just looked at him solemnly, like he was crazy.

Riku broke their gaze and finally looked out at the sea of Nobodies. They all were waiting, with bated breath and strained patience, to see the three bodies fall. He narrowed his eyes and lifted his head defiantly, staring down the thousands. Beyond them, he could see the sun, burning in the after dawn light.

After all, he thought, watching the Nobodies sway uncomfortably in the light of the sun, it was better to die at dawn than at dusk.

The silent Nobody pulled the lever, and the panels opened. The three bodies dropped through the platform.

The Nobodies cried out in triumph. Their enemies' numbers had been decreased by two.

The sun rose higher; the Dawn ending the age of reason. When the Dusk arrived, it brought with it a new era of war, while the bodies still swung in the wind.

_And Light entered the realm of Darkness, and the Darkness did not understand it_.


End file.
